Reflecting on ONL

Cannot believe that this is coming to an end!!! Time just pass so fast. I never thought I will be able to enjoy my online course as much as I am right now. It is kind of sad to know that this is coming to an end.

Being a junior educator in higher education sector, I have very limited exposure/ experience and it has been a privilege to hear from my fellow groupmates sharing their experience and thoughts. It is always very comfortable to communicate to them and at no point in time I felt that I was being left out or being irrelevant and one one dismiss my idea/ thoughts. Many a times, the meeting ended up with lots of laughter and turned into a little chit chat session. I am truly loving this ^^ A comfortable and warm environment are the core ingredients in building a sense of belonging to the group regardless if it is virtual or face-to-face session. There is definitely a need to spend time setting the environment to make it comfortable for the students especially the first session. We cannot be stingy with this extra time if we want to see collaboration among them, sharing thoughts and ideas.

Time is also needed to be allocated to establish the agenda for the day and a good debrief/ conclusion is a must. I often skip the agenda/ establishing prior knowledge due to time constraint. I used to follow the lesson plan rather strictly as I was worried that I am unable to cover the content in time. However, now I see the whole thing differently and how I can incorporate some fun during class. Content are usually covered in lectures hence during tutorial, we really need to assess and determine if the students comprehend what they understand in lecture and clarify. So what is point of rushing through the topic if the students do not even understand the basis?

Additionally, I have also learn to embrace digital technology. Technology is what the current students grow up with and I cannot deny that I do need them. As educator I believe that we cannot escape the use of digital technology as this is what the Gen Z is using. We need to get out of our comfort zone and embrace the Z’s era if we want to see collaborative effort and active engagement among the students. I would definitely incorporate the use of digital tools and be brave to explore. This is one of the way to get engagement from the students especially for online learning which is staying for the moment. So, I have to buck up and learn with/ from them. Do not be afraid to say that I do not know too. Learning is two-way isn’t it?

I do see some of the recommended practices in my PBL group. I hope I can bring these into my class, making a more meaning learning experience for the students and me.

A BIG THANK YOU to my marvellous PBL group and THANK YOU to the facilitators!!!

Virtual Class and it’s problems

After having one semester of virtual class, I see that students’ engagement/ commitment is one of the main issue I am having. It was not easy to engage them virtually and I felt that often I ended up answering to my own questions. However, I am glad that I am attending this ONL course because I did some little changes by incorporating the use of digital tools like Kahoot, padlet and PollEV for my class and I do receive some positive feedback from the students.

With the new Semester coming, I definitely would like to improve on the way I conduct my lesson and incorporate good practices that I learnt from ONL course into my teaching. The framework of Community of Inquiry is definitely an eye-opener for me as a novice educator. There are so much information incorporated in that framework alone! The highlights of the three core elements: cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence are really new to me. And now I am thinking how best I can include these into my class to enhance students’ engagement.

Social Presence

Social Presence is the ability of people to present themselves as ‘real people’ through open communication. This is where students share, learn and develop aspects of mutual awareness and recognition. I believe for this aspect to work, students first need to be comfortable with one another. Students started off as strangers hence, time is needed for them to get to know one another before jumping into topics and discussions. So what can I do? In usual situation, the first session tends to have lighter topic to cover, hence, I would be able to have time for some ice-breakers and before going into lesson. This connectivity is essential to create opportunities for students to get to know their fellow classmates and be comfortable with one another. This also allow them to settle in the environment, feeling safe and comfortable before they are more willing to open up and be more interactive and engaging. Additionally, involve the students in setting some rules for the lesson will enhance the sense of belonging.

Cognitive Presence

In Cognitive Presence, tutor can help students to engage in reflection where they will construct and confirm meaning. My course uses case-based learning (CBL) as the main source for tutorial. Students usually explore the issue, provide suggestions and determine if the solutions apply to the case. CBL allows students to apply the new skills and knowledge learned from the previous phases into case-based learning. In order to encourage engagement, motivation is an important factor. One will be more willing to participate when he/she feels the need to do so. Some instructional cognitive presence strategies that can be included are examples: having students self-select topics/CBL case that they are curious about; facilitating critical analyzation discussions (eg, role-playing discussions). Another way of promoting students’ engagement is to build on their previous knowledge so they will be able to connect to what they had learn and reconstruct new knowledge. Reflection is common way that our educators use to enhance students’ learning either in a practical session or CBL tutorial. This is definitely a good source to keep and continue to engage students in such a way. Perhaps I can also incorporate the use of some tools like Padlet, Google Quiz or Kahoot to assess their knowledge.

Teaching Presence

Teaching Presence is the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes to support learning. The course needs to have well-designed activities for students to collaborate. This is done by scaffolding the content and activities where educators are to assist students to construct their knowledge and rebuild existing knowledge structures by giving them opportunities to collaborate either synchronously or asynchronously. Educators need to provide support and advice, ensuring students are on the right track. Additionally, I also recalled that some students did feedback that the reading materials in the LMS was kind of confusing for them and they had issue locating the source. This demonstrate the importance of having easy assess or clear instructions to the reading materials that students required to achieve the learning objectives to enhance their learning journey. Although I am not the module lead but I also have the responsibility to ensure they can retrieve those information by providing them with clear instructions/ directions. This will be something that I will do for the upcoming Semester.

Collaboration is also another huge part of the curriculum. Hoping that the connecting time they had in the beginning will encourage them and spur them to work together. Other things that as an educator, I can also use other digital tools to encourage collaboration and participation from the students. Learning from my past experience, students are not very well-exposed to other digital tools. Hence, by introducing new tools to them may brightening their learning journey and ‘wake’ them up from the ‘sleepy mode’. Another learning point: getting students to teach rather than teaching them. This often force them to search for answers/ explanations and share with their classmates which also encouraging them to participate and interact.

Blended learning enhances learning through collaboration digitally either synchronously or asynchronously which improves learning outcome. This is the common practice now and virtual class is here to stay. I do need to work hard in ensuring students participate in class and learn something. Yes I am unable to avoid those who totally ‘switched off’ but I can reduce such numbers.

Blended learning benefited the students numerous ways:

1. Creating opportunities for collaborative learning with online learning spaces, offering greater and more engaging collaboration experiences between students and instructors.
2. Improved accessibility to online materials and communication which provides convenience and learning skill development.
3. Communication improvement where teachers can reach students through multiple communication channels and learning management system.
4. Student evaluations of both formative and summative feedback can be more detailed and frequent through online reporting structures.

So let’s make good use of this opportunity to enhance my skill in online teaching & learning. Start by creating a positive learning environment!

References:

Boelens, R., De Wever, B., & Voet, M. (2017). Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 22, 1-18.

Cleveland-Innes, M. & Wilton, D. (2018). Guide to Blended Learning. Burnaby: Commonwealth of Learning.

Fiock, H. (2020). Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(1), 135-153.

Collaborative Learning

I was reading about students’ experience on collaborative learning while marking their assignment. As expressed by them, working together is not easy, especially during with this pandemic situation where everything move to digital mode. Issues brought up were situation like unfamiliarity of content, not knowing each other, lack of leadership, no common goals, too much to share but unsure how to share, not willing to disagree or coming to a compromise, working in solo… … and many more.

The two elements that stand out most are: not knowing each other and not having shared goals. I won’t deny that it is important to establish a relationship with the group that we are collaborating. I felt the same when I joined the PBL group. As I am a late comer to the group, I missed out the connecting week which I think was crucial. Setting or discussing of goals can help with to align our goal/ aim and create commonality where we all agree upon. This also create a sense of belonging and a safe environment for sharing which is beneficial to group collaboration. I remembered I was trying to remember what the group wrote about themselves during the first meeting of Topic 1. Additionally, I was not very familiar with the topic due to limited experience and exposure in academic education. As a result, I do not remember that I was able to contribute anything constructively.

Palloff and Pratt (2005) identified elements of online collaboration:

• People: students, faulty and staffs involved in the online programme
• Shared purpose: coming together to take an online course, including sharing of information, interests and resources
• Guidelines: create the structure for online course, by providing the ground rules for interaction and participation
• Technology: serves as a vehicle for delivery of the course and a place where everyone involved can meet
• Collaborative learning: promote student-to-student interaction and support socially constructed meaning and knowledge creation
• Reflective practice: promotes transformative learning

Palloff and Pratt (2005)

All these elements have to work together and work well in order to have an effective collaboration. So how do we go about setting this right? Meeting virtually is often not as easy as face-to-face interaction where communication kind of just flow and seemly easier to communicate non-verbally too. I came across this sharing (Norms of Collaboration) by a groupmate which I see this working in our PBL group. Come to think it, we definitely collaborate well!!

Seven norms of collaboration:

• promoting a culture of inquiry
• stopping to think, turn to wonder
• listen, reread and paraphrase to understand
• ask questions to seek clarification
• put your thoughts and ideas out there
• pay attention to the tone, reactions, word choices and feelings of others (emojiis count!)
• believe that others’ ultimately have positive intentions, turn to wonder if issues or misunderstandings occur.

However, things may not always went on smoothly. What are the possible ‘killers’ in collaboration?

Disadvantages of Collaborative Learning

• People need to go at different speeds. 
• Someone may try to take over the group.
• Quiet people may not feel comfortable. 
• Sometimes people just don’t get along. 
• People may not pull their weight. 
• It is not fair!
• A concept may not be understood as well if a person doesn’t have to figure it out. 
• The time spent talking about irrelevant topics is unbelievable. 

So let’s pick these signs and remind ourselves not to commit them or resolve them. At the same time, aim to collaborate effectively and transform our knowledge for a better us!

References

Brindley, J. E., Walti, C. and Blaschke, L. M. (2009) Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Environment. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10 (3), 1-18.

DeWaard, H (n.d.) Critical Digital Literacy [Weblog post] Retrieved from https://www.3910cdl.hjdewaard.ca/blog/home/about/common-ground/norms-of-collaboration/

Palloff, R. M. and Pratt, K. (2005) Learning Together in Community: Collaboration Online. 20th Annual Conference on Distance Learning and Teaching

Openness

An amazing relationship between human and mollusk

~Thoughts~

Uncertainty/ fear of unknown is always present when you step out of your comfort zone. But how can we overcome this?

Building a rapport/ relationship somewhat helps to overcome this fear and settle into the new environment.

Communication is an important factor in enhancing relationship and communication does not just mean talking. Those subtle touch/ movement that was presented in the video demonstrated the importance of communication.

Another essential component is adaptation which is essential for survival. Either you struggle to adapt or you ease into the new phase.

So what does it has to do with Open Education/ Openness?

The Pandemic forces educators to move out of their comfort zone and start socializing in the digital world. Some may not be comfortable to use digital tools in their teaching and have concerns about sharing their teaching materials/ articles digitally. The fear of being evaluated by others or negative comments may put them off from sharing. I felt that there is a need to establish a ‘relationship’ with the tools by learning how to use and trusting that the tools will help in achieving what they set out to achieve. Taking own initiatives and learn to adapt into the new world and close up the gap between educators and students of the 21st century who are digital savvy. Let us start taking baby steps out into the open world digitally and start leaving footprints. Do not forget active participation drives learning and it does not just apply to the students but also educators. Get into each other’s world and start learning.

Sharing and receiving information online is another huge area in academic education. I am a junior educator and may not be producing papers or seeking for publications now but this knowledge of sharing does not just meant to be that. Often we share resources/ materials with our colleagues and this is the beginning of openness to me. How and what are we sharing? Do we verify the resources/ information we received? Additionally, I am also looking at resources online and how do I go about determining if this resource/ information is reliable? The word ‘Metadata’ was something new to me that was brought up during the lecture. I did not know that there is such a thing that I can and have to look at before determining if the resource is reliable. Glad to learn it and apply in my day-to-day work.

Educators need to know about the open system and ‘what’s out there’ in order to be comfortable and trust that it will do what it is set to do (legally). So, how much do we know about sharing digitally?

How to start

Let this be the start of the sharing journey in the digital world ^^

References

Bates, A.W. (2019). Teaching in a Digital Age – Second Edition. Vancouver, B.C.: Tony Bates
Associates Ltd. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/

De Gagne, J. C. and McGill, B. A. (2010) Ethical and Legal Issues in Online Education. Journal of eLearning and Online Teaching, 1(7), pp 2-13

Digital Native VS Digital Immigrant

Do you agree that we are all digital users? The terms ‘Digital Native’ and ‘Digital Immigrant’ came out very prominently during this week Webinar and it make thinking… Who am I (in the digital/technology world)?

Introducing myself once again: I am Erica, a digital immigrant, and is hoping to become fluent in the use of tools that I am familiar and be courageous to explore new tools.

So I draw my VR map and here it is~ my first attempt. Just by looking at it, I think I do leave quite a significant footprint with some tools. At the same time, I think there are more tools that I have used and tried that I did not put in the map. This is a good experience for me to be able to visualize what I think I know as this will help me to zoom into those skills I need to know for ‘survival’.

My very first VR map

Online teaching has been a challenge to me as a newcomer to the academic world. Despite, attending courses via Webinar to be prepared for online education, I often questioned my own session. Do the students understand my session? Do they feel engaged? Was my session boring? What can I do to make it interesting and interactive? What have I done right/wrong? Did I make an impact in their learning?

Reasons for the failure of technology to make a significant impact on education are failure to attend to the major challenges of learning to teach and problematic use of technology in teacher education (Bullock, 2016). The main problems of learning to teach are identified as the problem of the apprenticeship of observation, the problem of enactment, and the problem of complexity which truly summaries my teaching journey till now (Darling-Hammond, 2006, as cited in Bullock, 2016).

I do not have much opportunity to participate in lesson observation which means I do not have any ‘example’ to learn from and no opportunity to ‘practice’ before the actual session. As for my first online class, I did incorporate few tools in the session but I did not managed to get to it simply due to the lack of responses from the students and lack of time. Poor time management and inexperience with online teaching and tools have put me off track. But I do not intend to stay on the sidetrack.

Virmani and Williamson (2016) discussed extensively on how educators can enhance students’ learning by using appropriate tools. In order to use the tools effectively, educators need to understand how can technology support student learning and be comfortable and confident in using the tools (Virmani and Williamson, 2016).

This is a reminder for me to get familiarize with the tools, be fluent in it and use it to harvest the best result. Although the result often depends on the students’ response to the session, it is the ability of the teacher to leverage on the students’ discussion and achieve the aim of the session.

Reference:

Bullock, S. (2016) Digital Technologies in Teacher Education in Kosnik, C., White, S., Beck, C., Marshall, B.,  Goodwin, A. L. & Murray, J. (Eds.) Building Bridges: Rethinking Literacy Teacher Education in a Digital Era. pp 3-16. Sense Publishers. https://link-springer-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/

Virmani, R. & Williamson, P. (2016) Lessons for Teacher Educators About Learning and Teach with Technology in Kosnik, C., White, S., Beck, C., Marshall, B.,  Goodwin, A. L. & Murray, J. (Eds.) Building Bridges: Rethinking Literacy Teacher Education in a Digital Era. pp 43-55. Sense Publishers. https://link-springer-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/

Creative

I believe I am a true Pisces, a creative creature. My hobbies are built around creativity: drawing, crafting, knitting, scrapbooking, card making, attempt to explore clay modelling and painting…

BUT little did I know that Creativity is so much needed in academic education!

I joined the world of educators in Jan 2020. This was a huge move for me after spending 19.5 years working in clinical setting as a nurse. My previous experience in Training and Development department has introduced me into the world of education and confirmed my passion: Teaching.

But what do I need to be the change agent and make the different in today’s education?

Then it comes the email invite which is the path towards being THAT Change Agent. I hope to gain and absorb as much as I can through this course. Just can’t wait to get through this ^^